Created in 2016 in Cairo, the young shoot MoneyFellows has just raised the tidy sum of US $ 4 million Series A to the investment fund Partech Africa in order to bring to scale, thanks to the digitalization, the traditional model of ” tontines “. These circles group savings and revolving practised for decades in Africa, the so-called “gam’eya” in Egypt and in the arab world. Powerful tool for financial inclusion used by the informal sector, tontines, traditional allow for decades of their members to manage their economies more effectively and to meet their financial needs, through the pooling of savings and the incentive nature of the network, consisting of relatives, friends or neighbours.
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An important step in financial inclusion
The action of MoneyFellows also fits within the mandate of financial inclusion and digital transformation wanted by the egyptian government and its central Bank. In fact, with a population of nearly 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is experiencing a rate of access to banking services for very low-its economy, of the order of 15 %.
For the Fintech egyptian MoneyFellows – which already includes more than 150,000 active users, the fusion between the culture of informal “gam’eya” and that of the recent technologies of artificial intelligence has the effect of accelerating financial inclusion in the country. The young shoot helps as well through its platform egyptian populations, to better use the loan, and plan more effectively for their personal finances, using community circles digitized, managed each by a ” games is manager “. MoneyFellows can also drastically reduce the risk of loss of information through a historical falsification of the transactions within the ” gem’eya “.
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Another powerful lever for financial inclusion, it helps its users to acquire a banking profile, which will allow them to get out of the territories of the informal sector. Assets that have the advantage of attracting a younger audience, and naturally connected, as explained in the investor Cyril Collon, general partner of Partech Africa. “In Egypt, 50 % of the population was under 30 years old. They are all connected, particularly on social networking sites. The technology MoneyFellows allows you to reach out and bring on the financial market these new generations. People can access online and convenient way to secure guaranteed loans and savings plans, through the scanning of a model of group savings traditional massively spread across the world. “
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MoneyFellows has allowed the junction between Partech and Sawari Ventures
To venture into the land of egypt, Partech has partnered with the fund in cairo Sawari Ventures. This alliance between local investors and pan african also has the goal to accelerate the international expansion strategy of MoneyFellows on the rest of the continent. The arrival of MoneyFellows portfolio Partech has just, in passing, to confirm the teachings of its annual report on Venture Capital in Africa, which enshrines the breakthrough of Egypt within the country, leaders of the fundraising on the african continent. Just behind the leading trio traditional, made up by Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. For ecosystems, that means this fund-raising that occurs in the midst of a crisis, the international Covid-19 ? And this, even though funding is scarce and so important for the young shoots ?
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The proof of the resilience of the tech african
a committed Player, but also a keen observer of the market, Partech Africa quotes this new investment as further evidence of the resilience capabilities of the tech african. For Cyril Collon, ” the tech is clearly the asset class that takes the best of its hairpin game. She takes shots and there dead, but it has a agility and resilience which are very important in the current context. The african entrepreneurs will not stop and know how to stay frugal, despite the lack of funding. Many are going to pivot their business model to adapt to the crisis or for some have already done. The crisis is a catalyst for incredible of the digitalization of our economies, and we are confident with Tidjane [the Senegalese Tidjane Dème is with Cyril Collon at the head of the fund Partech Africa, editor’s NOTE] that there are sectors that are going to be accelerated massively by the crisis of the Covid-19. Such as education, health, or logistics. And of course, in the first place, the fintechs “.
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* Columnist of twenty-two ecosystem digital african it has come 4 years, Samir Abdelkrim is the author of ” Startup Lions, in the heart of the African Tech “. He is the initiator of the platform of the Tech4Good EMERGING Valley and founder of StartupBRICS
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Start-up africaines : this thorny issue of funding Afrobytes : “Africa is going to be at the heart of the issues of tech international,” Kenya : diving in the “Silicon Savannah” Cyril Collon : “The tech african not any more anecdotal” Tech african : strike record high of US $ 2 billion in 2019
